This invention relates to an illuminated sight having a light-dispersing end portion that can extend in a line-of-sight with a target while the sight is supported by a holder on a bow above an arrow-receiving portion thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a sight in which the light-dispersing end portion is releasably joined to a member having a hollowed-out portion to receive a socket and an incandescent light bulb while wires extend from the socket to a power supply circuit that includes a switch and a battery.
An experienced archer will always nock an arrow at the same point on a bowstring, draw the string back so that a particular portion of the hand contacts a particular portion of the head, elevate or lower the head of the arrow to compensate for the distance the arrow is expected to fall during flight before hitting the target, and then release the string to propel the arrow toward the target. This procedure is executed so that the feathered end of the arrow is always substantially at the same distance from the eye such that the only variable condition for hitting the target is the distance between the target and the arrow. Some archers aim a bow by intuition; while skilled archers employ bow sights. Bow sights are used for sighting or aiming the arrow at different ranges. A bow sight may be provided with a single sighting element that can be slid along a track extending substantially parallel to the string of the bow. The track for the sighting element will extend above the arrow-receiving portion of the bow such that the sighting element is elevated or lowered to a position corresponding to the range or distance over which the arrow is to be shot. The track member may have positions indicated thereon to correspond to different ranges through which the arrow is to be shot. An example of this type of sight can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,652. A hunter, upon sighting a target which may, for example, be a deer, must estimate the distance of the target, adjust the sight, nock his arrow, aim and then release the arrow. The hunter's actions must be completed quickly to avoid loss of sight of the target. However, a considerable amount of time can be required to visually locate the sighting element, particularly under a condition of low ambient light. The sight element is generally painted black and it is generally small to accurately establish a line-of-sight with the target.
Another common type of sighting element employs a plurality of sighting elements, each of which is spaced above the arrow-receiving portion of the bow by a different distance. An archer must estimate a particular range or distance between the target and the bow; select a particular sighting element corresponding to the selected range; position the bow to bring the selected sighting element into the line-of-sight with the target; and then release the arrow using the selected sighting element. The highest sighting element corresponds to a short range while the lowest sighting element corresponds to the longest range. The sighting elements are prepositioned by experimentation with the bow on which the sight is mounted. One example of this type of bow can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,332,080. Aiming of the bow with this type of sight may be confusing to the archer because of the plurality of sighting elements in the field-of-view. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,875, there is disclosed an archery bow sight having a plurality of sighting elements disposed above an arrow-receiving portion of the bow and spaced therefrom at different distances. The sighting elements are normally disposed in an out-position wherein they are out of the line-of-sight. Each of the sighting elements is movable between the out-position and a sight-position wherein they extend tranversely to the body of the bow and can be selected for aiming the bow. The sighting elements are prepositioned on a carrier member by experimentation. A sighting element is secured at a known position along the carrier member and used for sighting a target which is at a predetermined distance from the bow. However, the sight member is repositioned in the event the arrow strikes the ground ahead of the target or beyond the target. The markings on the sighting element are selected to indicate to the archer the distance between the target and the arrow before the archer releases the arrow.
Another example of this type of archery bow sight is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,839 in which an archery bow sight incorporates a Vernier adjustment on the bracket for modifying the range after the sighting element is positioned at an approximate range position along the bracket. A screw device is supported between flanged portions of an elongated member adapted to be secured to the body of a bow. A plurality of sighting element carriers is threadedly received on the screw device and means are provided for preventing rotation of the carrier as the screw device is rotated such that the carrier can be moved upwardly or downwardly as the screw device is rotated. This construction of parts is intended to provide a Vernier adjustment of the sighting elements mounted on the carrier by rotation of the screw means.
Another form of an archery bow sight of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,479 in which a bow sight incorporates adjusting means for each of a plurality of sighting elements by which each element can be moved along a screw device independently of other sighting elements. A master dial is used for rotating the screw device to move all sighting elements in unison and resilient means releasably holds each sighting element is a sighting or out-position.
The present invention provides an improved sight that can be used with any one of the bow sights described hereinabove to greatly enhance the sighting process by providing a sight tip of any diverse form that is illuminated to improve the usefulness of such sights to an archer. The light emitted from the illuminated sight tip is desirably small but the intensity of the illuminated sight tip must be sufficient to very quickly attract the archer's attention to the sight tip during the aiming process as well as the launching of an arrow. However, the intensity of the light dispersed from the tip and illuminated by the tip of the sight must not produce glare due to fatiguing the cones of the macular area of the eye.